Walk Around- Queen Anne's Lace, Carrots, Husk Tomato, Elephant Ear, Red Burgundy Okra

Another Monday at Smith Gilbert Garden and we worked among the vegetables today.

While we were weeding the vegetable garden Shon (SG’s Head Gardener) told me about this plant. This looks like Queen Anne’s Lace and it is in a way. It’s a carrot that has gone to flower. Queen Anne’s Lace is considered a weed but the wildflower has an eatable taproot which is a wild carrot. When a garden carrot flowers it looks like Queen Anne’s Lace. They are of the same family. Unfortunately this carrot has had it.



Doug took us on a "walk around" after work. It’s fun to learn about different plants this way.
Here is a Red Burgundy Okra plant. It has a flower very much like a hibiscus. I’ve never seen red okra before. It cooks just like regular okra. Don’t plant okra until summer temperatures have reached at least 75 degrees. The pods should be harvested when they are 2 or 3 inches long. Otherwise they get too tough to eat. It’s best not to wash them until your ready to cook them. Otherwise the pods start to get slimy. My husband loves fried okra. He’d rather eat that while watching a movie than popcorn.



This is a Husk Tomato - or Dwarf Cape Gooseberry. It can be used in sauces, chopped up in fruit salad or you can add it to your salsa. It has a husk around it that looks like a paper lantern and when that dries out the tomato is ready to eat. It has a melon type texture and is sweeter than a red tomato. They are getting popular in farmers markets. They are as easy to grow as a regular tomato so you should try to Grow It First.



Here is a Staghorn Fern. This is an air plant or one that does not require soil. They are in the same family as orchids. This one hangs from a piece of wood and moss. You have to bring them inside for the winter because they are a tropical plant. All this one needs is a little water and it’s very happy. These Staghorn Ferns are by the gazebo behind the main house.



This Elephant Ear was gigantic so I had to take a photo of it. See the pretty heart shaped leaves. This one is a light green color which also made it stand out. Elephant Ear is part of the Caladium family. I hear that they are heavy feeders and like high nitrogen fertilizer. If you have space for one of these you should consider planting an Elephant Ear.




That’s it for now. See you next time.

Storing Cucumbers- Cucumber infused water, Cucumber Puree, Pickles, Cucumber Soup

Cucumbers, Cucumbers everywhere. The fact is they are very easy to grow! So how many ways can you use a cucumber and can they be stored? That was the last question Stacey asked me at a party I went to last weekend. So I told her I’d do some research and let her know what I found.

Apparently you need to store cucumbers away from fruit because the ethylene that the fruit gives off makes the cucumbers taste bitter. I didn’t know that until I started collecting information for this blog.

You can always pickle cucumbers. Cousin Gay (from the 8-21-12 blog) makes bread and butter pickles as well as jars peach jam in the summer time. We always look forward to getting a jar or two of each from Gay each year.




I was watching a guy on You Tube explaining how to freeze cucumbers. He washed and skinned the cucumber. Cut the cucumber in quarters. Took all the seeds out till all he had left was the meat of the vegetable. He froze them for a few weeks and said that they only thing that was different was there was no crunch. Well, a cucumber without crunch doesn’t sound like it would be great in a winter salad. So I think we can skip that one.



I was reading that you can freeze cucumber soup but you need to leave the dairy out. This is the photo of the soup before I froze it. After the soup is thawed you can add the dairy. I’ve never made cucumber soup before so I looked up a recipe by Emeril Lagasse. It has yogurt and sour cream in it so I left that out and froze it. I have tried to freeze yogurt and sour cream before and it doesn’t work so this makes sense. Here is the link to the recipe that I used. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/cold-cucumber-soup-recipe/index.html

Freezing cucumber puree is about the best way to preserve the original flavor that I have come across. You have to peel them, take all the seeds out and finally chop them before putting them into the food processor.


Here is a photo of the soup that I froze and thawed - then mixed in the dairy. Looked and tasted great.

I’ve shown you how to make cucumber and other infused waters on my January 4, 2012 blog titled Odds and Ends. Once the water is infused you can freeze it into ice cubes and use it later. Make sure you use extra cucumbers and less water if you are planning to freeze them. That way you can put the flavored cubes into a glass of water and still have that summer fresh taste.

There are recipes for sauces, dips, canapes, salads, cocktails and mousse all using cucumber puree as a main ingredient. You can find them all on line. So freeze the cucumber puree for that summertime freshness even during those cold winter months. One last thing. A cucumber is so expensive to buy in the store so you should try to Grow It First!

A morning of learning- Coleus, Conifer Garden, Ginko Biloba, Kousa Dogwood Tree (edible berries)

I spent Monday morning at Smith-Gilbert Gardens weeding with the other volunteers. After about an hour and a half we got to do a walk around. It’s a way to learn about the vegetation around the gardens and discover new things.



Doug Davis (our tour guide) talked about the Kousa Dogwood tree. This tree originates in Asia where people there eat the fruit off the tree. Doug says it tastes a little like strawberries. Here in the U.S. we only use the tree for ornamental purposes. The fruit is a light red color and attracts birds and squirrels. Here is the Kousa Dogwood that we stopped to look at. The fruit isn’t ripe yet but you can get the idea.




Smith-Gilbert Gardens has a wonderful conifer area. A conifer is a cone-bearing plant and most of the time you'll think of pines. Here in the garden is a Ginko Biloba plant. The male plants produce small pollen cones so they are considered conifers. It looks a little out of place but it belongs here.




Here is a Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Frisia’ -Yellow Locust tree. It has a light green colored leaf. This tree was blown over about 40 degrees during a wind storm and Doug didn’t want to lose it so he commissioned an artist to sculpt a brace for the tree. He had it set upright and braced it. It’s doing just fine now.



Lastly I checked on the Coleus we planted at Smith-Gilbert on April 16th. That photo is on my Grow It First Facebook page.
Well just look at them now. Beautiful!

Find out more about Smith-Gilbert Gardens at http://www.smithgilbertgardens.com/

First week of July 2013- Boiling eggs, Keeping bananas fresh, Orchid, Pot Minder, Watermelon Carving

Just wanted to share just a few really cool things I got for my birthday last month.


First is the beautiful orchid I got from my daughter. So pretty. I don’t know much about orchids other than they want to be left alone. The less attention you give them the better.


I also got this wonderful little tablet called The Pot Minder from my sister and it does what it says it will do. It says to put it in the water when cooking potatoes or pasta but I used it for boiling eggs and it worked! Can’t have a 4th of July party without deviled eggs! I put cream cheese, mayo and mustard in mine.

I had a little fun with the watermelon carving I did for the 4th of July. Since our house is named Setters Run I decided to carve the Decoverly Kennel logo into the fruit bowl. I think it looks cute!










How do I keep your bananas from turning brown too fast. Cover the tops with either plastic wrap or foil. Storing tomatoes is a bit of a science. If you want them to ripen you store them with the stems up. If they are perfect the way they are you should store them with the stems down. They will keep longer that way.

Last on todays list of show and tell are my apple trees! Can’t wait to bite into the first one! These were too high on the tree for my dogs to jump up and eat them. They love munching on green apples! One day there will be plenty of apples for man and beast but for now~ We will have to settle for the left overs.